Desirae Marotta (‘21) was chosen as New Teacher of the Year at her school, Cedar Forest Elementary in Fredericksburg, Virginia where she teaches first grade.
“I am so excited to have been chosen as New Teacher of the Year at my school” said Marotta, “I have worked extremely hard on building a positive relationship with all of my students which has had a huge impact on student success within my classroom.”
Marotta credits her positive relationship building skills to her introductory years at Daemen. “I learned positive relationship building early on and I am extremely grateful for all of the opportunities I had at Daemen and within my student teaching experience to continue learning” she added.
Education majors at Daemen begin their field experience freshman year and continue gaining out of the classroom experience throughout all four years. Department faculty support students with a strong emphasis on research, writing and presentation skills within a close, collaborative atmosphere.
“The opportunities Daemen facilitated has helped me create a positive classroom community where my students come to school feeling welcomed and excited to learn each day” continued Marotta, “Receiving this award is a huge honor and I look forward to moving into the County division for review in late March.”
As her first year of teaching comes to a fulfilling end, Marotta remains thankful to her professors and mentor teachers for their continued support throughout the year.